


Benthic

by MoonWitch96



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Classical References, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Worldbuilding, oc-insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 19:11:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13371291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonWitch96/pseuds/MoonWitch96
Summary: Benthic- relating to or occurring at the bottom of an ocean. In this case, its all about goings deeply within Persephone Jackson, daughter of Sally Jackson and Posiden, god of the sea. A reincarnated girl that really thinks the Fates are screwing with her for their amusement. Please read and review.





	1. Sophie

Sophie Douglas was jogging with her brother, across the Golden Gate bridge, desperately trying to make sure he was not falling behind her when the most horrendous thing happened to her. Her brother, David, was not one for exercise and was huffing and puffing like a pug with a sinus infection, red face, sweaty and miserable. Sophie, on the hand, was keeping a steady rapid pace, with a slightly red face and even, practiced face. This was generally easy peasy for her, as she was incredibly strict when it came to conditioning her body- a by-product or really a  _demand_ of being a ballerina. Somehow, now that David was living within spitting distance of her again, she had managed to drag her physically inept brother that would rather spend his time in front of a whiteboard scribbling out intense, complicated and completely groundbreaking equations to try and figure out the universe, to go running with her every morning.

This was the four week.

David was still horrendously out of shape.

"S-S-S-Sophie. Brea- Breather!" he begged, half sobbed at her a few feet away.

Sophie sighed, before calmly slowing her pace, falling back until she was at David's speed, and then calmly stopped altogether. David hunched over, hands on his knees as she tried not to snicker. So as to not lose any warmth in her muscles in the chilly, foggy air so early, she stretched, moving about in a few select yoga poses as her brother wheezed and tried to keep from dry heaving- as he had the first week.

"You are a fucking taskmaster!" said her brother with a snarl, pushing up his slightly foggy glasses up his nose.

Sophie felt her lips quirk, slowly spinning on the spot in a dancer's pose, bringing down her lifted right foot in a graceful gesture before she brought her left one up.

"Drink water, nerd," she said cheerfully, laughing at his haggard expression. It was moments like this, even with her brother's pissed off expression, that reminded how much she had  _missed_  him when he had moved to New York to get his Ph.D. in Astrophysics.

Grumbling, but doing what she had asked of him, David drank from the water he was carrying in his small backpack. He was nearly done with half of it before Sophie batted it away with a shake of her head.

"You're going to throw up again if you drink it that fast."

"Do we have to run all of the bridge?"

"It's not even two miles, you big baby."

Her brother leveled her with a pout, which was ridiculous on the face of a man that was a Doctor, and soon to be a Professor at a college. David rubbed his face with a sharp, funny whistle through his nose. Sophie made it a note to tell her brother to stop forgetting his allergy medication because, well, it sounded horrendously gross.

"It's almost four if you run it back and forth," he said pointedly, and she noted it seemed like he had almost gained his breath back, "Which we fucking do."

"You promised," Sophie countered him, doing her best to looking up at her brother with wide, beguiling brown eyes that were perfect for the puppy dog look. She even wobbled her lower lip in a perfect pout.

David pursed his lips.

"That stopped working when you were five, Sophie."

Sophie giggled pout morphing into a wide, beatific smile.

"Do not lie to me. If it hadn't worked you wouldn't be here."

David grunted. Sophie simply wiggled her way to her older brother, pressing her hip into him.

"Oh, come on, I promise we'll do something you like and I hate to make up for it."

David grinned.

"Planetarium with me lecturing the chemical composition of every star mentioned?"

She grinned back.

"Davey, we'll be there for five years."

"Sweet sweet promises."

She laughed before she grabbed her own water bottle and took a good swig from it.

When she heard the screech of tires, she had turned her head in alarm. And noticed that in the same split second that a truck had lost control and was spiraling towards them.

Sophie didn't even think. She only shoved her brother as hard as she could, sending him sprawling on his ass a few feet away from her. The truck, a large behemoth, broke through the barrier like paper. Then, the truck hit her, sending her flying. She hit the railway of the bridge with such force that she tumbled over the edge. It took less than a fraction of a fucking second, and before she even had time to try to catch herself on edge, Sophie was already too far away.

Sophie fell, all two-hundred and thirty feet, not even being able to scream for the four or so seconds it took her to hit the water.

When she hit the water, she  _felt_ every bone in her body shattering, and the rush of water streaming into her lungs. Sophie had never in her life had felt such pain- could barely comprehend it even as she felt herself start to lose consciousness out of the sheer pain and shock. She doesn't remember much after that point. Just the vague sight of the sunlight glittering over the water as she sank further and further down into the San Francisco Bay, hoping that the pain would just _stop_.

And it did.

If only that had been the last of her problems.


	2. Sally

_January 1992_

Sally Jackson knew she was in trouble. It had started simple enough, trying to escape her problems after her uncle's death, trying to clear her head in the face of the fact that she had to work twice as hard to get into college now that she no longer had as much financial aid, no real high school degree under her belt either. In November* she had, on a nostalgic whim, requested a month off and rented out a cheap cabin down by beach in Montauk, desperately needing to have some free time despite the fact that she was working her ass off to finish her GED and save as much money as she could before she tried to get into Columbia, her dream school.

There she had met _him_ \- handsome, older, with a soft swagger that caught her eye when he walked by her on the beach, a confident grin on his slightly weathered face. She was nineteen to what he said was thirty-five, and Sally was too far gone to care the second he had smiled at her, warm, sparkling and whole. He called himself Poseidon, joking that his mother had a thing for the classics, and Sally thought she had fallen just a little bit more in love. She wonders, now when she's hovering over the toilet, puking her guts out, if he had known she could see through the Mist, would he have approached her at all, or would be so absent minded to bring his Trident to one of their dates.

_Sally thinks she's in love when for the fifth time as Poseidon helps her into his dinky little rowboat, beaming at her. His green, turbulent eyes flickering up and down, making her flush despite the fact that she is wearing thick, sturdy corduroy pants and an unflattering sweater, but this man, this man makes her feel like she's sexy and gorgeous in a sack. He just looks at her and she feels as if she's beautiful, no not just feels,_ _**knows** _ _she beautiful._

_It was a little way in, that she sees it, in a distance, a flash of serpent's body, before she turns away, eyes lazily flicking past as if she had seen nothing at all. Because Sally knows it's not a good idea to bring attention to what she sees. Once things realize that you can see them, they tend to follow you, or worse. She shudders briefly, at the remembrance of the one-eyed man that had followed her for five city blocks before she had managed to duck into a crowd of people and lost him._

" _Cold?" he mummers, throwing a thick blanket across her shoulders for a fraction of a second._

_She smiles and brings the blanket tighter across her shoulders. Playfully, and loving the way his eyes darken as she brings her booted foot over to rub his sturdy, muscled legs. Legs that make her shudder in pleasure rather than in unease._

" _Not anymore," she responds, grinning wickedly as he drops the oars all together and comes over to pull her into his lap. She giggles, easily bringing her legs to wind around his waist, straddling him as his large hands settle on her wide hips. She flushes as she feels him, at his readiness and sheer eagerness. Her hands go to his chest, feeling the firmness of him beneath his clothes, bits of him that she has already seen and wanted to see again._

" _By the gods, Sally, you're a Queen among women."_

_Sally laughs, throwing her head back in her mirth, feeling glorious as his hands make lazy circles on her skin, somehow making their way beneath her sweater to caress her skin there. It's when he brings her in close, clasping her chin to bring her in to kiss him, that she notices his necklace. It's a trident, bronze colored, held on a leather cord. And it_ _**glows** _ _, initially, it had been hidden beneath his shirt, but that had moved with her hands caressing his chest. Sally was too used to odd things, too used to what she had suspected to even pause, only continuing to kiss her lover reverently._

_Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she tells herself that it doesn't matter if he is what she thinks he is. If he… If he had lied when he had said he was only thirty-five. Because Sally Jackson is in love, and she's tired of being_ _**smart,** _ _of thinking before she leaps, of ignoring what she wants. And at that moment, she wants him._

She finishes throwing up her last bit of her dinner, realizing what she had been dreading, what she had been determined to ignore. She wanted to be an English major, but her love of reading and writing had come from her admiration of the Western Classics like the Iliad, the Odyssey… And her adoration of the Classic Greek Myths. Hard not to look things like that up when you see centaurs and cyclopses around New York City. And she had long suspected that the man she had fallen in love with was not human. She doesn't realize she's crying until she sucks in a breath, chest constricting at the realization that she is one of many in Poseidon's life… That her life, her life as Sally Jackson and her subsequent romance with him was only a prelude to what was to come… Not for her, but rather what she thinks is the baby that is growing in her womb.

Shakily, Sally gets up, ignoring how her hand is trembling, and moving to the sink to rinse her mouth. She licks her lips, grabs her coat, her wallet, and her keys, and rushes out of her shoebox apartment to the drug store around the corner. Sally was not usually self-conscious because she's young and she knows she gorgeous, but the look the older woman at the counter gives her as she sees that she's buying a pregnancy test makes her want to crawl into a hole.

It only takes a quick bathroom break and few dozen minutes for her to brave looking at the display, and the two little pluses confirm what she had suspected.

Without realizing it, Sally finds herself lifting up her ratty t-shirt, and pressing her hand to her still flat abdomen. She trembles, hand clenching over her stomach, before she leaves her apartment once again. She goes about two doors down before she pounds on the door. It's late, probably close to two in the mourning, but her friend, Maria Diaz*, answers the door. She looks tired, but more than a little startled to see Sally. She is only wearing a large t-shirt and a half pulled on robe, her deep brown hair a riot around her head, brown eyes surrounded by the smudge remains of her eye makeup.

"Sally? It's like two in the morning-"

"I need your car… Please," she begs, blinking rapidly, trying not to cry at the sight of her friend.

Maria doesn't hesitate. She fishes for her keys in the bowl on her bookshelf full of change and random bits of lent, and hands over the one to her car. Sally nearly falls to her knees in thankfulness, but instead gives her a tired smile, and makes to leave. Maria's concerned voice stops her:

"Sally, are you okay?"

Sally grips the key, resisting just barely from bringing a hand to her stomach again. She turns back to her friend, who has a furrowed brow and a worried scowl on her face.

"No, I'm not," she answers truthfully, biting her lip.

"Is it that asshole Gabe, from the supermarket, is he still bothering you?"

Sally laughs, more than a little hysterical.

"No, no not him."

Maria squints her eyes, frowning before she moves forward to grip Sally's arm.

"Is it that guy you met in November? Is he asking you to take him back? Because he was an asshole, not even giving you his number! Forget that creep-"

"Maria..."

"No seriously, you're like a ten Sally, that ass no te merecer, he doesn't deserve you! Don't go back to him."

Despite everything, Sally feels a smile come to her face. On impulse, she throws herself at her friend, her arms going around her neck as she brings her close. Maria throws her arm around her shoulders too, bringing her close before she steps back.

"Thank you. But I… I really need to do this, alone," she whispers, staring at her concerned, pinched face, "Thank you for lending your car. I'll see you later today, I swear."

Maria squints her eyes, but nods at her whispered confession.

"Be careful, honey."

Sally nods sharply, before turns on her heel and runs for the elevator.

**OOOOOOOOOO**

Sometimes Sally thinks she might have schizophrenia. She sees and hears things that no one else sees, but she  _believes_  and she thinks that it would too easy to blind herself with pills she can't afford anyway. She is on the beach, freezing her ass off, teeth chattering and wondering if she should really do this. But, she thinks, placing a hand over her stomach, if she doesn't, then she will never know for sure, never understand and she isn't doing herself, or the child she has growing inside her. She will not be ignorant, she will not put her head in the sand anymore. The sun is just raising,  _Apollo,_  she thinks faintly, bringing the sun across the sky, lighting up the area in a sea of dramatic red. The tide is coming in rapidly, the sea spray making her teeth chatter as she stands right in front of the part of the beach she had first met him in. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Sally calls out:

"POSEIDON!" at the top of her lungs, "I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE!"

She doesn't hear a response, just the wind, and the crash of the waves against the shore, the gulls overhead. She feels tears fall from her eyes, her lips trembling in the cold and her onslaught of sheer  _anger_  and  _fear_ for herself and her baby.

"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"

"Sally..."

She whirls around and tries not to sob at the sight of him. He looks so normal- unassuming if handsome man of thirty-five that had done things to her that even thinking of it makes her toes curl in lazy warmth. But he's wearing shorts and flip-flops as if the cold, the  _freezing_  January weather of Long Island doesn't bother him.

"You're the god, Poseidon," she says, shakily, part of her hoping that he will deny her.

He doesn't, only blinking rapidly before he gives a terse nod. After a brief moment of hesitation, he reaches for his necklace- his damn necklace- and it swirls in soft blue light to form an actual fucking _trident_ , ten feet long, wickedly sharp and utterly mystical. She takes a breath.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Humans… Humans don't tend to react well nowadays."

_Nowadays._

She gives a watery chuckle.

"So you think it's okay to just fuck me and never talk to me again? To never explain anything to me?"

"Sally, you said you were returning this summer, I thought when you did-"

"You mean after I gave birth, right? Where-"

"You're pregnant?"

"Of course I am! That's how this works right, a god falls in love with a mortal and nine months later, BAM! Baby demigod. Like Perseus or Helen."

Poseidon face softens, and he takes a step forward. Sally takes a step back, lips trembling.

"Not all of my lovers are blessed so quickly Sally, despite what the Myths say. I had hoped… I had hoped that when summer came, I could tell you. I've built you… I built you a palace, Sally, I want you to come with me. Let me love you forever," he whispered, warm, passionately and utterly devastating to her resolve, "Our babe can grow as he deserves, with his mother and father as King and Queen of my Domain."

She shudders, because she can see it- her, never having to worry about anything again- no rent, no more hunger pangs for when she had to cover an emergency expense or shitty jobs. With  _Poseidon,_ loving her, her loving him, worshipping each other perfectly as they had in November.

"What about your wife? Amp-"

"Don't say her name. Names have power. You don't want to bring her attention here, Sally Jackson."

She shudders, because the way she says her name makes something warm pool in between her legs.

"Okay. No name calling. I got it."

"She does not matter. She was a marriage as a gesture of goodwill between I and the Titans. She does not matter, Sally. Not like you do to me. Will you come with me? To where you deserve?"

Sally hesitates, biting her lip.

"No," she says, softly, surprising herself and Poseidon in the same moment, and she finally lets the tears fall, because this is goodbye to love, "Because I will not be that person. I won't let a someone take care of me anymore. And I won't let anyone take care of them either. Just me. Because I can't just drop what I want in my life because I want you or because it'll be easier for me."

She places a hand over her stomach, over the small little life that is invisible to her, but that she knows is there.

"Sally, please-"

"No, Poseidon. Because our story is just the beginning. We don't matter in the grand scheme, do we? Because I'm not the first woman you have loved. Nor will I be the last. I'm just a footnote for our child, the one that will matter more in the end. The one that will be remembered in songs and stories."

Poseidon furrows his brow.

"Sally. It doesn't have to be this way."

"Why not? It's been that way for centuries."

Poseidon, sighs, before he laughs, loud and warm.

"But I wish for you to be different. I  _choose_  you, Sally… Please. Come with me."

Sally wants to, but can only smile sadly.

"I can't. I have too much I want to do in this world- this normal world. The mortal world. I want to earn my GED, I want to earn my degree- I want to  _write._  I don't want the only thing that matters to be the fact that I love you."

"Are you sure?" he begs, coming closer, so close and so quickly that Sally barely has time to blink, to register that he had been ten feet away to suddenly right next to her, hovering, cocooning her in that way that made her knees weak. His voice was warm and curled around her in a deep, scalding way, "Because the mortal world does not deserve you, Sally Jackson."

This time, there's no hesitation.

"Yes, I'm sure."

Poseidon steps away, absently lifting his hand to bring the trident he had thrown aside to embrace her. His shoulders are shaking, even Sally can see that through her haze of tears. She feels cold and realizes that at that, she has lost him for good. Sally has lost love, for the third time in her life, but of instead of to death, it's to her own pride.

"There is a camp. Camp Half-Blood. It is for children of the gods to find safety, earn their skills in battle. Because all the children of the gods smell of us and attract monsters. Our child will never know peace, not with my essence to contend with. A hero's life is never a good one, Sally Jackson," he said, softly, looking a her with a devastating sad smile, his green eyes filled with tears, "For heroes belong to the god that sires them, and we use them, we need them to perform our will upon the world as we cannot."

Sally shudders.

"Promise me. Promise that our baby will be more of that to you."

Poseidon blinks.

"Promise me that our baby will be more than a hero to you. Please, Poseidon, I don't want a palace. I want our baby to be loved… By both of us."

"I swear it, Sally Jackson. Our son will be loved by me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Percy Jackson in any sense. It's universe, characters all belong to its wonderful creator, Rick Rordian, its publishing and broadcasting companies.
> 
> This is me, playing in its sandbox, making misshapen sandcastles.
> 
> I will not update this often, this is just me getting excited and subsequently ignoring my homework like a bad noddle.
> 
> So. I meant on only giving Sally a small part in this chapter... But. Um... I kept going. And decided to write the next part/Sophie's next POV in the chapter after this one. And sorry if Sally seems a little OC, but honestly, I was trying to write it from a younger, nineteen-year-old girl that has just had her dirty way with a god and realized it, the consequences of the fact that she's pregnant and the man she's been in love with won't stay in love with her because that's not how things work when it comes to the gods. Like I said in the chapter, Sally has been seeing weird shit for a long time and understands the way of things more than most mortals in the Percy Jackson world. Sally's headstrong, prideful and determined.
> 
> 1*: She supposes to have spent the summer of 1992 with Posiden... But, I counted back nine months and that's not how things work unless she stayed pregnant for a couple months overdue, 'cause Percy was born on 18 August 1993 and that's just not how babies work. So yeah. She took a month off from work in November instead. 'Cause basic math.
> 
> 2*: Sally is never mentioned to have friends... Mostly because Rordian kinda has this habit of writing characters a little flat(no offense to him, it's more like the action is the stuff that matters most in the books, which I know gets better after each subsequent book, but is still a thing with his enormous cast), and because I figured Gabe scared/bullied Sally to giving them up. So Maria Diaz exists!


	3. Sophie II & Sally II

_18 August 1993_

"Died saving someone for certain death. Honorable," comes one voice, soft. Soothing.

Sophie blinks, rapidly, shivering and confused. It's so  _dark_. She can't even see her hands, she thinks as she looks towards the voice. But she can't tell. Because it's too dark. All she knows is she's… Somewhere. Dark. Not cold. Not frightening. Just…

Dark.

It just is. Just dark. Sophie has no concept of up, down, sideways. Just herself. Just Sophie and the dark. She feels like she can fall into that dark. Mix with it.  _Fade_ into it without a care.

"Elysium?" says another voice, bored, tired.

That grabs her attention. Faintly, she remembers what that means. Paradise? No, the domain of heroes, her mind is fuzzy, that neutral darkness creeping into her memories, her mind, fogging it all.

"She has only saved one life. A loved one at that. Is that equal to paradise?" says yet another voice, firm and angry.

Saved a life? That was… Nice of her… She knows that the voices are talking about her.  _David._  The thought is sudden, breaks through the endless dark, panic flares to life.  _Where the fuck was she?!_ She still only sees the dark. Nothing else comes forward.  _David? Where was David?_

"The Roman* brats failed her," says the first voice again, once soft, hardening.

"The minotaur was not their prey to kill. Had they not provoked him, he would not have been on the bridge in the first place."

"That is not her sin. We judge her life, her soul, I remind you, not the circumstances of her death."

Sophie is in a haze, confused, dripping wet and shivering uncontrollably.  _Had that asshole in the suit stolen her credit card? Why does… Where am I?_  She tries to focus, unbidden, images of the ocean, the surface of the ocean glittering on the surface as she sinks… Pushing, getting hit a car- no- it  _shimmers_  in her memory, faintly, a huffing, unstoppable thing covered in fur is there instead of the truck. Leering, empty eye sockets with blazing fire and rummaging through her phone to grab her credit card in annoyance and confusion-

"We need to settle this quickly, send her to the Fields instead."

"Wait!" she calls, her voice a whisper on the wind, panicked, she repeats her words.

The three voices,  _three,_  booming, powerful, do not pause. It's as if they do not hear her.

"She is not a half-blood."

"Elysium is for  _heroes_ , not nepotism."

"She has done nothing else. Not achieved anything. Cusp of her life."

"She has no need of it. She saved a life, brother or not, and that counts for something."

The three voices mummer, agreement, disagreement. Agreement again.

"David?" she begs, and again, she gets no answer, "Mom?"

"So be it. The first ring of Elysium it is," the voices chorus.

Sophie is taken away. And all is light. Perfect warm… Wonderful. But completely restless.  _Boring._

_David? Mom?_

She has lost all concept of time. Everything is just light. No more voices, soft, tired or angry. Just her. Just Sophie and light. This is not neutral, as the dark had been, but warm and  _good._  She would lose herself in it. Be chipped away and turn to just light.

_I'm going crazy. Please. Someone...Anyone… Tell me-_

"She just got here!" a new voice, Sophie hunger, turns, eyes widening.

_Someone._

"Orders from the top, ask her," says a voice… The same? No, just a shade different.

"Hey, you-" another voice, again, only a little bit different. Hardly noticeable. But Sophie can tell. Talking to her again.

_Three again._

"Yes?" and Sophie is surprised, after so long- _days, weeks, just a few seconds_ \- her voice is firm and audible, no longer a whisp on the wind, "Yes, what is it?"

"Do you want a new chance at life?"

_New chance? No. I want David. And mom and-_

"Ugh," says the second voice, tired, annoyed, "I loathe regular mortals. Have to drag them to do anything. They can never  _focus._ "

"You hate all mortals. Especially half-bloods."

"Shut up! At least they can focus!"

"Yes!" Sophie begs, not quite understanding, but wanting anything but just this  _light._

"Oh. Okay. Hopefully, we don't see you here again, soon, honey," says the first voice, "I'll take her to River of Lethe."

Yet again, Sophie is taken away. She is dropped in rushing, running water. It washes over her, taking…

_Nothing._

"Well, that's one cleaned soul. No more pesky memories."

Something's not right. She's still Sophie.

"Wait-"

"Off you go, honey."

And she's taken away again.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

_I'm not ready,_ thinks Sally Jackson, wildly as she breathes shallowly out of her nose, chest heaving in the sheer amount of  _pain._

"Come on pretty girl," says Maria, clutching at her hand, not flinching at the fact that Sally had already made her fingers lose circulation, "Just a bit more."

Sally just screams, pushing, moving with her all her might. She tries to ignore the fear, she has to ignore the fear, but she can't stop it from reaching up, her heart in her throat, shaking so badly that she can barely see. Because she's only  _nineteen_  why the hell did Poseidon do this to her?!

_He came to me at my most vulnerable moment. And I let him. Because I was lonely and I didn't want to think._

"Push, come on Sally!" says Maria, and out of spite, Sally tightens her hand, wanting to make her feel a fraction of what she feels. Maria does not react at all, breathing in and out, trying to help Sally pace her own wild gasps.

A contraction rocks her, and Sally knows she's being split in clear two. She wants to die from it. She can't do this. She's nineteen. Why the hell didn't the epidural work?!

_Oh, gods, please, I can't. Lady Eileithyia, Lady Artemis*, please, help me. I… Please. Keep me safe… Keep my baby safe. Please. Please._

"Almost done, honey," and that's one of the nurses, soothing her hair back gently as Sally sobs, at the gentle contact, "We see the head."

For the first time in a long time, Sally Jackson wants her mother. Because that gentle touch hurts even more than the gods damn watermelon coming out of her.

"Uh… Please, please," she chants, "Lady Artemis, Lady Eileithyia. Please. Please."

It's done in a rush that has her falling limp. Then she hears a cry, a soft, wailing cry and Sally hands are reaching, begging.

"Congratulations, Miss Jackson," says the Doctor, beaming at her, "It's a girl!"

Sally blinks. A girl? Hazy, and trying to focus, she is surprised by the  _girl_. She had never expected a girl.  _When has a god ever had a girl with a mortal woman? Only Helen of Troy, as far as I can remember. And never a daughter of Poseidon._  Despite herself, Sally fells a vicious pleasure at the thought, a way to differ herself, she thinks with a slight bitterness. She may be one of the  _thousands,_ but she has given him a daughter.

All those petty and viciousness thoughts are pushed away when the baby is placed on her chest.

It's horrible looking, red, squished. She remembers how everyone says a newborn is gorgeous but sees that no baby looks adorable or quite right just after birth. Too red, too compressed. As she stares at her, blinking in sheer awe at how  _beautiful_ she is anyway, Sally Jackson falls in love for the second time in her short life.

And it shakes her to the very core.

"By the gods," she sobs, watching that squashed, crying face, "Oh. Hello, hello, it's me, I'm mommy!"

The baby's cries soften, little mouth parted, it's little fists  _oh her little fists_  curling around the hand that isn't supporting her against her chest.

"Miss? What about her name?" and that's the nurse, the kind nurse.

Sally stares. She hadn't thought of girl names. Poseidon had been so certain that it would be a boy when he had asked her for names. Perseus, for his happy fate, had been her ultimate choice. But about for her baby girl?

Artemis?

_Too many expectations, she can't fall into the life of a hero._

Helen?

_Beauty will not be the only thing to define her._

Athena?

_Wisdom is useless if one does not use it._

Hestia?

_Warmth. But dismissed._

Persephone?

Sally stops at that name, heart pounding. Queen of the Underworld. Goddess of Spring. Kidnapped? Or… Or loved. By a mother. Willing to starve the world for her daughter. A happy marriage? She cannot recall if Hades had ever had an affair, a demigod* as Poseidon or Zeus has. Loved.

Sally stares at her daughter, tears pouring down her cheeks. Her beautiful little baby.

_I'll kill the world for you._

"Persephone," she says, softly, bringing her delicately close, "Her name is Persephone Jackson."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Percy Jackson in any sense. It's universe, characters all belong to its wonderful creator, Rick Rordian, its publishing and broadcasting companies.
> 
> This is me, playing in its sandbox, making misshapen sandcastles.
> 
> Initially, I planned to make Sophie from our universe, you know, knowing all the goings on, but then I decided that it would be more interesting to write as if she was from the same Universe and that something fucked up when she went through Lethe. Foreshadowing? Totally foreshadowing. An older person in the body of a young demigod, neat to write.
> 
> *1: Goddesses of childbirth. Yes, Artemis is one too. She helped birth Apollo after all, and the Greeks did love to smash gods domains together.
> 
> *2: Erm... Well, Sophie did die in San Fransico. California is Roman territory yo. I always figured that monsters are usually attracted to the brats of their pantheon.
> 
> *3: Fun fact, as far as I know, Hades has never been linked to a demigod. I know in the actual series, he obviously has, because well, Bianca and Nico, but as far as actual mythology? Nope. Nada. He's only known the romatic thing has been the infamously kidnapped Persephone, and I am of the firm opinion that they're a pretty damn happy couple(modernized it, totally modernized romanticizing). Plus, Kerabourous means 'spotted'. So yeah. Hades is a complete dork that named his three-headed dog 'Spot'. Make of that what you will.


	4. Persphone I & Sally III

_Persephone I & Sally III_

_20 September 1993_

She came back to herself slowly.

Over time, she caught snippets of sentience- little moments of understanding something other than the simplest of things. A flash of her rich, reddish-brown hair that reminded her of a fur coat that she had wanted to purchase from the thrift shop, gentle holding hands reminiscent of faint memories of her father, Daniel Douglas, who had died when she was three, the comfort of a sweetly sung song. Satisfaction of warmth and a full stomach, gentle dreams of the lulling sound of waves falling against the shore. And as more time passed, the consciousness that made her up, the one that had made all of her, came forward, moved past just the urge to eat, to sleep, to relieve herself. As time past, the memories of who she had been, moved to the forefront of consciousness. She became more than just an infant. She became herself again.

She was…

Not quite just Sophie Douglass, because when she opened her new eyes for the first time with that in her, realizing that what had happened to her, that she had been reborn... She understood she had become something other. Because her eyes were new, her heart, beating steadily in her chest, was not her original one.

New.

Just developed.

She was  _other_.

 _Reincarnation,_ was her first, coherent thought, as herself and with the majority of memories of Sophie Douglas in her mind. The next was a series of snapshots,  _A leering skull with fire as their eyes, restless, neutral dark. Three voices. Male. Elysium. Light and peace and warmth. Another three voices, always the_ _ **three**_ _… Female? The River_   _Lethe._

_**Now** _ _._

She blinked, squinting at the flawed vision, curious and unsure of what her new name was, a sort of finality and understanding that Sophie Douglas was not what she had become. Dying and going through a cycle of rebirth came with a sort of inherent knowledge, and understanding to her at that moment as she stared at the mobile above her. The vague shapes of pastel seahorses and dolphins, and a mermaid dangling above her with a soft familiar melody she can't quite place.  _Over the Rainbow_. Part of her blames the river- the river that should have taken all of her away completely, and had instead given her an understanding of being a completely new human being with the memories of the body she had inhabited before this one.

The tragedy of her death, of the suddenness, hurt her, crushed her, but at the same time, she  _accepted_. Because she had made that choice. As Sophie, she could have stayed in the first ring of Elysium( _light so warm and peaceful_ ), stayed and faded away completely into the warm and acceptance. Into the essence that made up what was essentially heaven. But she had been going _crazy_ , at the way herself had been being chipped away, and she had chosen to go away from that.

Another thought hit her,  _I shouldn't remember._

It was a suddenness and understanding that made her blink rapidly, her body young, immediately fell into tears at the distress of how wrong this was. Because no one should understand themselves to be truly unnatural in the order of the world, and remembering who her soul had been was the epitome of wrong. So distressed by her unnaturalness, she didn't realize she was not alone in her room.

"Shhhh," whispered a gentle voice, and she turned to the sound in surprise and distress.

Gentle hands descended, gently running through her hair for a moment, threading through the ever-thickening strands, and she looked up, up and up, to see a young woman. She was a little older then what Sophie had been on her death, maybe in her twenties, and utterly beautiful in a way that as Sophie, would have made her sigh in admiration and envy. She had tired eyes, flashing and changing color from green to blue as she carefully lifted her up in the low light. She felt a little bit of unsettlement, from how easily this young woman lifted her up, at how  _small_  she was, but as the young woman laid her across her chest, she got a huge rush of affection and recognition.

Flashes, of warmth and dark, of gentle hands swaddling and sweet singing, came to mind.

_Love._

"Persephone, how rare for you to be fussy," muttered the woman, who could only be her mother of this life, as she slowly rocked her up and down, humming in the back of her white throat, "Shh, little Kore*, I'm here."

 _Persephone_ , she mused as she relaxed further into the woman's body and warmth, her hands automatically fisting into her lush, silky hair. She had a name now. And apparently, her mother was a fan of the Greek myths, if the name and nickname was any indication. She paused, as she thought of Elysium, and wondered if they were truly just myths? Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she understood that  _Kore_ meant girl, an inherent knowledge, and understanding that should have alarmed her had she not been so focused on learning this young woman in front of her.

"There we go Kore," she mused, placing a kiss to her temple, as Persephone settled down.

Her heart, which had been pounding, relaxed. The tears that came from her eyes dried, as she rubbed her face against the woman's pale and soft throat. She smelled, the scent coming off the woman further coming her down, not just the soothing familiar motion, a smell that was sweet and reminded her faintly of candy. Also familiar.  _Love_ , thinks Persephone, is what she feels towards this woman, a love of instinct and comfort. _Protector, caregiver._

_Mother._

Faintly, in the back of her mind, she remembers her first mother, Sarah Douglas, nearly in her forties when she had Sophie, and already had David ten years previously. She realizes that Sarah would have buried her, if her body had been found, at only twenty, so young, just as the voices said, just at the cusp of life torn away in a second.

She mourns that but finds that her attention is more at the warmth and comfort that this young woman brings.

"Mommy's here, sweetheart, Mommy's here," hummed the young woman, softly, "No need to worry about anything little Kore."

Persephone nuzzled deeply into her mother's throat and felt her eyelids droop in how relaxed she was. She was asleep nearly instantly.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Sally Jackson was surprised how easily she had slipped into motherhood. Well- not  _easily_ she was nineteen and much too used to only taking care of herself. It was more of a natural instinct thing- something she thanked Leto* for giving her. It helped that Persephone, or Kore, as she had started to call her more and more, was a very quiet, good-tempered baby. She hardly cried, and fed when prompted too, and cuddled adorably whenever she was in anyone's arms, threading her tiny baby fists into their hair. She never pulled or tugged at it, only ran her fingers through it, in gentle curiosity.

Sally wondered, sometimes, if Persephone had inherited that part from her father. Not the anger, not the deity that was the Storm Maker, the Earth Shaker, the raging myth that she read about, but instead… But instead the gentle part of the Oceans. The good, the serene and the quiet beauty of waters and the bountiful nature of food and raining giving weather. Most of her, however, thought that was wishful thinking, for Persephone was only a month or so old, and her fate as a half-blood still sat heavily with Sally. More than she ever cares to admit, and she wondered when something would come for her baby. It was hard to understand why  _anything_ would want to harm such a young child or to think of her baby as a warrior in any capacity. Because she was her  _baby._

"Pretty girl, you home?" called a voice at the door, and gently, easily, Sally turned towards the voice.

"Yeah," she said back, not even bothering to temper her voice as she placed her daughter back in the crib. Persephone slept like a rock.

Maria Diaz came into her one bedroom apartment, a pot balanced on top of a small suitcase, and Sally's stomach  _growled_ at the smell. It was rich and hearty and made her almost dizzy for a second, a reminder that she had not eaten for the entire day.

"Is that?"

" _Asopao*._  Ama* sent them over with more baby clothes from my cousin. Something about winter being around the corner?"

Sally smiles, softly, at the thoughtfulness.

"Your mother has single-handedly fed me and Kore for months, and now she's dressing her?" she muttered, grateful and slightly aghast at the fact that Selma Diaz had taken upon herself to be so charitable to her and her baby. She reaches first for the food, moving to grab the pot and placing it over food so it could heat up properly.

Maria shrugs, rolling her eyes, coming over to tuck Persephone in, humming softly to the sleeping baby. Most wouldn't think Maria to be gentle to a baby- she was all rough edges and bombastic latin temper- she gave no fucks, as she was fond of saying. But Sally saw that Maria was an extremely guarded individual who loved and felt very deeply. It was one of the reasons she and Maria had bounded so quickly when they had moved into the apartment complex, by coincidence, on the same day, over a two years ago. Maria was a little older then Sally, at twenty-two, and the slightly gruff woman had taken a mourning Sally under her wing the second she had realized that she wasn't going to school and was living on her own.

"Ama has claimed you as family the second she met you, nina. And you were asking it for it when you introduced her to little Pershi her. She's losing her mind over her damn cuteness. I think she's taking it as her first grandchild at this point."

Sally shifts slightly uncomfortable, leery of taking charity and such a generous inclusion to a family, but accepts that it is sort of what she needs at the moment.  _Winter_ is around the corner, and as she reaches for the small suitcase and pops it open, she realizes that Selma has chosen the most adorable little onesies that are thick and thermal, all entirely too big for Persephone at that moment, but a good estimate how she will be closer to the fierce cold that takes New York. There bright and colorful- and one that looks like a bear, in particular, catches her eye, and she smiles again at the thoughtfulness on Selma's part.

Anything that avoids spending money other on bare essentials is perfect for her. Sally had dipped a little into her savings during her pregnancy to prepare for Persephone- buying a second-hand crib, as many diapers and baby wipes as she could- things like that. She had spent a good amount of it, and now it had become an emergency fund more than anything, but she was still uncomfortable to use it unless she absolutely had to. And she still had medical bills to pay off, both for her stint in the hospital and for Persephone(who knew babies needed so many shots?), not mention her rent and her amenities and feeding herself and her child. She had managed to work through the majority of her pregnancy, but that only went so far and the daycare she was eying was fairly expensive once Sally felt that Persephone was old enough to more or less toddle around herself.

As of yet, she and Maria, since they had opposing schedules(Maria being a bartender to Sally's candy cashier), had agreed to care for Kore when the other wasn't home. Maria refused to let Sally pay for it- but Sally had taken to cleaning the woman's apartment and laundry on the sly to make up for it. So far, Sally was impressed with the fact that she was treading water, so to speak, instead of drowning with the added expense of another human being(both monetary and emotionally). But she knew it was only going to get tighter as time went on, especially since Sally  _would_ be getting her GED if it damn killed her. Many single parents got a degree as well… Why couldn't she*?

"Well, thank me if I don't see her first and your cousin. It's been really helpful not to have to buy so many clothes..."

"No word on the guy?" grumbled Maria, going over to stir the pot. She purposefully put her back on Sally, no doubt to avoid showing her furious expression.

Sally sighs, sorting through the clothes carefully setting the sizes that were too small for Persephone.

"No," she said softly, focusing on the soft cotton and wool fabrics in front of her, "He hasn't spoken to me. I think he still is mad that I didn't want to marry him."

It was the best lie she could tell her friend about the circumstances- she couldn't exactly go on about Greek gods without sounding like a nutcase. Part of her, also reassured her consciousness with the thought she would one day tell Maria. When Persephone was older when weird things happened and Maria was witness to it. Then she would tell her, and perhaps she would believe her… Maria clicks her tongue, roughly tapping Sally's wooden spoon on the pot as she removed it. She didn't turn around, going to Sally's bread box, taking out some garlic bread from the bakery around the corner.

"He's not even paying child support-"

"I told you, I told him I  _didn't_ want him to."

Maria turns, eyes narrowed.

"You're being stubborn. Kore deserves that extra income, you're managing but it's only going to get worse once she's older Sally."

Sally raised her chin.

"Don't Maria. Not on this. I don't want anything from him when it comes to money. It makes me feel cheap."

And it did. It was bad enough she had been a side piece- that Poseidon was married on top of being a god. Sometimes, in her most bitter moments, she wished she had gotten not Poseidon's attention, but Apollo's. He at least wasn't married as far as the myths went. She wouldn't feel guilty on top of being a side note in a grander story… But that was only sometimes. Because Persephone was  _worth_ it dammit.

"Okay," said her best friend, the godmother to her baby, sighing, brow furrowed, "Okay. I'll drop it, Sally. But I'm still punching the guy in the face if I see him."

She gave her a wry smile.

"Thank you, Maria."

"Yeah, yeah," she said, turning back to the  _Asopao_ , her better mood shown when she said, "So… Pretty girl, our lease is coming up."

Sally blinked as she went to set the table, grabbing bowls and plates as well as two chipped cups from her minuscule cupboard. She went to the refrigerator, reaching in the back for the filtered water pitcher.

"Yes?"

Maira shifted uneasily before she sighed and turned to Sally, hands on her hips.

"There's an apartment complex that my Uncle owns a couple blocks from her," she started, licking her thick lips, " He has an empty apartment free now- three bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen and living room combo up for rent closer to my Mom's house. If we go in together it's about more or less what was paying for our holes here… And… And the area allows you to qualify for the 'rich' school district. For Persephone, for later. It'll be a bitch, but we can make it work together-"

Unbidden, warmth spread through her chest, and she had to physically dig her nails into her palms from crying. This was so different from what Poseidon had offered… He had offered her  _everything_ in a way that would have made her feel as if she had nothing to offer back. Because only love and amazing sex could only go so far in fulfillment. But Maria was offering platonic, comradeship- a two-way street that she could work with- mutual benefits.

"Maria… That sounds wonderful. Can you get me the paperwork to look it over?"

Maria blinks, before she grins, wide. It's in those moments that Sally realizes that maybe, some love did last. Not just the love she had for Persephone. But friendship… Maybe that could last.

"Perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*: Kore, in some versions of the myth, this was either A, Persephone's original named, or B, just something they called her as it just really means 'girl' in the original Greek.
> 
> 2*: Leto, mother to Artemis and Apollo, goddess of womanly demure and motherhood.
> 
> 3*: Puerto Rican soup dish, hearty, fishy and supposedly very very delicious.
> 
> 4*: Ama- mother.
> 
> So, I'm emphasizing Maria Diaz's part in the story for a reason, so before anyone says it's not canon, I know it's not. I just want to make it a point to emphases how much Sally scarifies for her children, not just Persephone herself, but Percy. I want to make it a point of her having a support system before I introduce in person, Gabe's character... 'Cause trust me, that's going to make an appearance in the story, make no mistake. Can I say what an awesome person Sally is? Or at least how far she goes for her kids? 'Cause tell whether or not Canon!Sally would not drop her friends in a heartbeat for her son? She lived through years of abuse just for his protection. Though of course, you can make the argument that she did so to keep her son near her and not ship him off to camp, but I really don't blame her. Child Soldiers. Okay in Greek Myths, in practice, however, if you step back, how horrifying do you honestly think it is? If I ever get knocked up by a Greek god and he petitions for me to send him or her into a camp where he or she will likely be in dangerous situations for the glory of his or her's godly parent... Well.
> 
> I'm going Sally's route and saying fuck you to that.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> ~Happy Reading,
> 
> Moon Witch '96


	5. Posiden I & Persphone II

_Poseidon I & Persephone II_

_1994_

Poseidon came to his newest child at night, when Sally was asleep, and her friend was away at her job. He came a year pass the birth, now sure and reassured in this era, that his newest son would survive into his childhood years. Despite the advances of mortals, the possibility of Thanatos* coming for his son before the age of one had taught him to stay away from the child least he get too attached. Sometimes the heavenly seed did not blend well with that of mortal's fruit- too strong, too much for a fragile half body of a demi-mortal. He would have still mourned the babe, of course, but would not have gone mad with grief. With the passing of the year, he was assured that the life, small, but well, he felt at the corner of his mind should he focus, he knew that his babe would live, and he deemed it that he must see the child.

Now, he bet if any of his brothers were to witness him shimming his way through the fire-escape window to see his forbidden babe in the dead of night, they would laugh until the next century. But he must be discreet, much as he loathed the indignity of it, to assure the survival of Sally and his son. He stands, easily, noting with distaste that the way Sally had decorated his son's room. It was completely unbefitting that of a son of Poseidon. It was, oddly, swathed in hints of pinks and purples, amongst the predominant soft green and blue. The former, Poseidon had thought had fallen out of favor with the mortals for male brood. It certainly did not please him, to think that the colors of Aphrodite and Dyniouses would be prevalent amongst his son's room, nor his brother's Zeus's in the blue. He frowns, shaking his head before he makes his way towards the crib. To his surprise, his babe is not asleep so late at night- instead, the babe is sitting up, absently stretching their legs in small practiced strokes, humming to a song that he did not know.

He blinks as he gazes at the long curls, thick, ringlet black of his son, past their tiny shoulders nearer to their waist, and he wonders if long hair had come back into fashion for male mortals, or if Sally had been unable to sheer his son for the hair is lush and well curled. Eyes, large and as green as his own, peak at him suddenly, and his son's small plump mouth part in slight surprise. His little brows furrow, as if curious to the strange man in his room, and Poseidon is mildly surprised when the little boy's eyes go to the baby monitor. The boy looks back at him, squinting, before it gives a well-formed shriek, causing him to stumble back in sheer surprise as the baby screams, so high and loud that he is sure his father in Tartarus can hear him. Poseidon snaps forward, clamping his hand over the boy's mouth, and get's a bite for his efforts. He winces at the bite, but he is a god, so he does not let go of the boy's face. He is very surprised when the babe still gnaws at him with a mixture of gums and exposed baby teeth, shrieking beneath his palm.

_Determined._

"NO!" and he is surprised by Sally running into the room, a baseball bat in hand.

His former lover… Oh, his Queenly Sally comes at him, bat in hand as she screams bloody murder. She is as beautiful as she was when they met. Motherhood has made her plumper, but not negatively, she is shapely and full of the aftereffects of birth, her breasts full and lush hips peaking from beneath a thin overly large t-shirt. She has the bat ready, aimed for his head, hitting him with surprising force for such a thin limbed woman. He takes the blow with grace, stumbling away from his babe as she raises the bat again. He parries with his trident, allowing himself a nice view of Sally's heaving chest as her eyes adjust to the darkness before he demures his gaze away from the loveliness of the flesh to the beauty of her eyes. Now they are flinty and dark blue in anger, teeth bared in sheer motherly fury. Leto has influenced her well, he can see.

Painfully, he is aware if she were to ask it, he would no doubt spirit her away to the place in his domain he had made for her. Were she but to ask.

"Poseidon, what the hell?" she hisses, dropping her bat and rushing to the crying babe, lifting his son with a beautiful ease into her arms. The babe sobs, pressing his face into that lovely column of white ivory that matches their own skin, small tears falling from those large green eyes.

Part of him envisions her in their palace in the sea, naked, hair adorned with coral, shells, and pearls*, obsidian and the purest white, in the same position, holding their son in a lovely sight of motherly dominance and ease. Before the reality of her ratty shirt and hair in a messy bun atop her head overcomes him. He sighs at the lost.

"I came to see my son," he says, primly, watching as she rocks his boy gently, and he notes, with surprise, the boy is quiet far quicker than any babe of his he has ever seen. The sons of his seed are always wildly tempered, as he is...

Green eyes peek from between Sally's hair, wide, curious and hardly blinking.

"That's impossible, Poseidon," she says, rolling her eyes.

He feels a faint touch of fury roll in his stomach.

"Oh? And who are you to deny me my son, Sally Jackson?"

She narrows her eyes, placing a quick kiss on the boy's brow.

"For one, I am her mother. For another, you don't have a son in this room Poseidon," she says with a slight smile, before she extends the babe carefully, "Meet your  _daughter,_ Persephone Jackson."

Poseidon blinks.

Then he blinks again.

"I- What?"

She laughs, a flush of bemusement and shy delight coming to her fair face.

"Poseidon, I didn't have a son. I gave birth to a girl."

He stares at Sally before he looks down at the babe. Really looks at it, and sees, that she is indeed a girl. Her face is truly cherubic as all youth is, but there is an extra softness, an extra gentleness that he has never witnessed in any of his sons. The long hair makes more sense, as does the delicate nature of her fists and lashed eyes. He more than a little amused at the girl's disgruntled, squinting eyes, or the scrunched up nature of her face. She had, of course, been screaming loudly at his mere presence. Now, he realizes, for the first time, he has been granted a daughter.

He sucks in a breath.

"By Atlantas… Sally, you have given me a daughter," and he laughs, breathless before he falls to his knees and reaches for the baby girl.

Baby  _girl._

What by sweet Gaia is he supposed to do with a daughter?! Sons he can send off to war and to be his  _champion,_ and though many women half-bloods had come and gone to give glory to their parents, he cannot deny that this is a first for him. The children of the sea, even the cyclopes, were all  _male_ to the point that Poseidon thought himself incapable of siring a female. The girl comes to his arms with a furrowed brow, eyes narrowed as she reaches for him, gently, she places her hands on either side of his beard face. She assesses, his little girl, _his little Pearl_ , green eyes focused and little brows furrowed. Before she relaxes, resting her head into his neck with a wuff of breath that tickles his throat. He realizes, in a moment, that his half-hearted promise to love his child becomes solid and true.

He has a daughter.

"She looks at everyone like that. She… She is very smart," mummers Sally, softly, "I'm surprised she hasn't talked yet really. But she does seem to understand everything to a point."

"She's… Beautiful Sally. Oh Atlantas, look at her, I have a  _daughter!_ " he cries, joyous, jumping up to crush his previous lover to his side along with his babe in his arms, "This changes everything, Sally! She must come to the sea at once-"

"Hey! Poseidon, no!"

Sally pushes away, brows furrowed, snatching Persephone from his arms. His arms are wanting and he reaches again for the child but stops short at the expression on Sally's face.

"Sally-"

"My answer is the same Poseidon. Me and Kore are doing fine on our own."

"But if my brother were to find of her existence there is a danger you cannot understand. The Big Three have all made a vow to stop our pleasures of mortal woman to prevent a Prophecy that threatens all of Olympus! Any child is close to forfeit- you both will die and be sent to my eldest brother's domain. I cannot allow that to happen. She is my daughter! My only daughter!"

"That's on you! You broke your vow, Poseidon. Not me. Not Persephone. Surely they will give us mercy because of that?"

Fury, unbidden curls more dangerously in his gut. He sneers.

"You give too much credit to any god, Sally Jackson. Justice is not true when caprice and spite rule."

She glares at him, clutching Persephone to her chest, who stares at him with wide, unreadable eyes of a child, facing him, hands fisted in Sally's lush hair. Scared, he realizes, of him. She stares at him with no understanding- he who is the voyeur, he realizes, he who is the intruder of this small home.

Unwanted.

He swallows, thickly, fury dropping away to something he cannot name.

"Sally… Please… If you can-"

"I'm doing fine on my own, Poseidon," part of him flinches, for her voice has lost any anger or bitterness, for instead, she said this gently. And that makes it wost.

He licks his lips.

"Let… Let me hold her, then, for a little while."

Wordlessly, she returns his only daughter into his arms. He shudders, in surprise and delight at her warmth, at the way she automatically steadies her little fists against his broad chest. He hums, gently, trying to invoke the song long forgotten by him, of the few moments of sweetness from his mother before he had been swallowed by his father. He sighs as he stares at those assessing green eyes, before she relaxes again, settling into his neck with another soft breath against his neck.

"You must still send her to camp… If you wish not for my protection, Sally Jackson. She must learn to be a Hero. Anything less will destroy her. Monsters will come to kill her. The others will know of her eventually…Please."

Sally says nothing, brown brows furrowed, eyes, now the softest green, like the sea of the Mediterranean at night in the summer, filled with tears.

"Don't. Not yet. She's barely a year old, Poseidon. She's just a baby. Half-blood or no, my daughter must have some relief from her destiny. Let her live in ignorance for a while..."

"Very well. But know that you will have to let her go Sally… For her sake. Allow her to learn to fight… Protect herself from the horrors of this world without the help of her parents..."

Sally sighs, before, deliberately coming to his side and pressing wordlessly against his side. It was not a sexual gesture, despite her lack of dress, and Poseidon gave what comfort he could. His arm curling around her thin shoulders, and silently he made a vow.

On the river Styx, he would love Persephone Jackson.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Persephone understood within a few seconds that something was off about the tall man as she looked up in the dark. Being reincarnated gave her a sort of knowledge she thinks, that stops certain automatic things. Instinct is born from ignorance and autonomic reactions- out of lack of agency. She  _has_ agency, she remembers and is sentient at one-year-old in a way that was utterly unnatural. She had, after all, had the innate knowledge of what happened after death. She had been in  _Elysium_ , been judged by three voices, been bathed in the River Lethe(even if it didn't  _work_ ). She did know some Greek mythology(factual history?) enough to realize that the gods of old were still around and kicking.

Which it is why she freaks out very violently at the familiar feeling of calm and  _knowing_ that came with this man that snuck up to her in the dark. He was handsome, she understood, absently, from her time as Sophie, tall, with bronze skin from the sun, lush black ringlets touched with grey, and bewitching green eyes like the ocean. The calmness that comes from the sight of him is not her own, not really, even as her limbs relax as he looks at her with critical eyes, a tide of comfort washing over her with a sort of longing for this man. There was an innateness to this feeling, supernatural, completely out of her control.

So with a pointed look at her baby monitor, she shrieks to high Olympus and Hades and back, because her mother would make this man,  _whatever or whoever_ he was, go away.

The man, tall muscular and handsome enough to stop traffic, panics. It was funny in hindsight, to see such a man freakout, because he is tall and powerful, and when he snaps forward to cover her mouth, Persephone does not let up, biting and gnawing at him, lamenting at her lack of teeth. She died at eighteen once, she sure as hell is not dying at one. Her mother, the ever lovely Sally, comes charging in, bat in hand, a war cry on her lips, a fierceness in her changing eyes. Then, in the middle of it, Persephone,(standing in her crib with the intention at launching herself at the man's head if he overpowered her mother, holding the rails to hold herself upright), finds that to her utter lack of surprise, the man brought out a weapon out of thin air.

It's a giant fork.

A giant glowing fork. Looking like it was made of bronze, inlaid with pearls and wrapped with leather. It, is glowing, faintly, more of a glitter really, and Persephone understands with a certainty that the fork is very dangerous… Three-prong spear she analysis quickly, _trident_ … Greek Mythology. Poseidon? The ocean guy? Earthshaker too, as she far she remembers. Got jiggy with Medusa in the temple of Athena… She had adored the Clash of the Titans.

She blinks, surprised, when her mother, after a second, lowers the bat.

"Poseidon, what the hell?" she hisses, before she comes over to pick Persephone up.

Persephone herself quiets her screaming, understanding, wary, that her mother knows this… Not man.

Not man.

She understands that very well as Sally bounces her up in down soothingly. Her mother does not flinch at the fact that she is scantily clad in front of this… Person. Poseidon sighs.

"I came to see my son," he says, primly.

He's looking at her. Straight at her. Persephone blinks, quickly. Quickly, her mind goes through myths, of children of the gods. Steadily, she winds her chubby one-year-old fist into her mother's hair. She finds comfort in the texture, in the silk of her mother's hair.

_Okay. Okay. Calm down. Do not freak out. So I'm a demigod, like Hercules. Okay, okay. I already died once. Things really can't get any weirder than that._

"That's impossible, Poseidon," says, her mother, a slight irritation in her tone.

"Oh? And who are you to deny me my son, Sally Jackson?" there's a rumble to his tone, a darkness that has something in Persephone shivering.

Sally gives her a quick kiss on the temple.

"For one, I am her mother. For another, you don't have a son in this room Poseidon," she says, pulling Persephone away from her, "Meet your  _daughter,_ Persephone Jackson."

The man stares at her, uncomprehending as Sally carefully holds her out towards him.

"I- What?"

Sally laughs.

"Poseidon, I didn't have a son. I gave birth to a girl."

He stares at Sally before he looks down at the Persephone with wide, deer caught in headlights look.

He sucks in a breath, just a breath, his eyes, inhumanely green, widens again.

"By Atlantas… Sally, you have given me a daughter," and he laughs, breathless before he falls to his knees and reaches for her.

Persephone is conflicted as she comes to him, furrowed brows, eyes narrowing at the eagerness he shows as he catches her in his large, frankly frighteningly buff arms. She places her hands on either side of his beard face, careful, searching for something she can't quite name. Before she relaxes, resting her head into his neck with a wuff of breath that tickles his throat.

Her dad is a fucking Greek god. The thought is hard, but easy at the same time to accept. She had wondered, really, what had happened to her father in this life. And now she has an answer, as crazy as that was. The Ocean god, she thinks, wanting to laugh.

She died in an ocean, she died in her new father's power...

"She looks at everyone like that. She… She is very smart," mummers Sally, softly, "I'm surprised she hasn't talked yet really. But she does seem to understand everything to a point."

Persephone had talked. But she had quickly been discourage to the action because she hadn't liked to how clumsy her sounds were. At night she spent most of her time humming her and maturing her vocal cords. Her goal was to say a perfect 'Mommy' for Sally, soon, but her voice was not quite up to par.

"She's… Beautiful Sally. Oh Atlantas, look at her, I have a  _daughter!_ " the god cries, "This changes everything, Sally! She must come to the sea at once-"

"Hey! Poseidon, no!"

Sally snatches her from his arms, and she is really happy to be away from him. The amount of comfort she feels in his arms alarms her, really. She doesn't really like the concept of the supernatural amount of love she automatically feels. It feels… Not good. Love isn't a given, even to the person who donates DNA. It is earned. And as heady as the feeling of being in his arms is, Persephone wants him to  _earn_ it.

"Sally-"

"My answer is the same Poseidon. Me and Kore are doing fine on our own."

"But if my brother were to find of her existence there is a danger you cannot understand. The Big Three have all made a vow to stop our pleasures of mortal woman to prevent a Prophecy that threatens all of Olympus! Any child is close to forfeit- you both will die in be in my eldest brother's domain. I cannot allow that to happen. She is my daughter!"

A cold dread comes to her. She is… Illegal? Disposable to the  _gods._

_Prophecy? Is that why… Why I exist? Why I remember? Or is it all a coincidence?_

"That's on you! You broke your vow, Poseidon. Not me. Not Persephone. Surely their will give us mercy because of that?"

"You give too much credit to any god, Sally Jackson. Justice is not true when caprice and spite rule."

Sally clutches Persephone to her chest. Persephone stares at her biological father, hands fisted in Sally's lush hair. His anger is a physical weight, an actual  _mass_ of air pressure. She trembles, uncertain, afraid, very sure that this… Being can kill Sally and take Persephone without a glance.

_Don't. Don't you dare take her from me too._

She had already lost her first father, mother, and David. Hell, she had even lost Sophie. She cannot lose Sally now. Not so soon. She fists her hands tighter into the woman's hair, daring Poseidon to do something silently.

Something gives.

"Sally… Please… If you can-" he begs, begs, he, a god.

"I'm doing fine on my own, Poseidon," says her mother gently.

He licks his lips.

"Let… Let me hold her, then, for a little while."

Wordlessly, Sally hands her over. The god shudders as she automatically steadies her fists against his broad chest. He hums, gently, trying to be soothing, trying to get her stiff form to relax. She stares at him, calmly, and after an internal struggle, Persephone gives in. She relaxes again, settling into his neck. It is warm and steady, and his pulse is not human- it is not a gently thump that is familiar- but rather instead that of the sound of the ocean, hitting against the shore.

His heartbeat is the ocean.

Somehow, that is beautiful to her, not horrifying in the further proof that this being is not human. She furrows deeper into his neck, relishing that sound, her own breath following its beat.

"You must still send her to camp… If you wish not for my protection, Sally Jackson. She must learn to be a Hero. Anything less will destroy her. Monsters will come to kill her. The others will know of her eventually…Please."

_Monsters… Like… Like the thing that caused me to fall off the Bridge. Monsters are real. And they will come for me._

_**Kill** _ _me._

_Or Sally._

She breathes, deeply, a startled at the thought of this woman, this beautiful woman that fed her and held her close, dead.

_Three voices. Judgement, light, warmth… Fading away. Not yet. Please… Don't take someone else away._

"Don't. Not yet. She's barely a year old, Poseidon. She's just a baby. Half-blood or no, my daughter must have some relief from her destiny. Let her live in ignorance for a while..."

"Very well. But know that you will have to let her go Sally… For her sake. Allow her to learn to fight… Protect herself from the horrors of this world without the help of her parents..."

Persephone vowed silently, to herself, and both of her new parents, that she would be able to protect herself. Whether or not she would be a hero, was another matter entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians in any sense. It's universe, characters all belong to its amazing creator, Rick Rordian, its publishing and broadcasting companies.
> 
> This is me, playing in its sandbox, making misshapen sandcastles.
> 
> I felt the need to do this meeting from both Posiden's and Persephone's POVs. It won't happen often, but every once and a while.
> 
> *1: Thanatos, the English bastardization of the Greek means," to die, be dying". He was the personification of death. NOT Hades, who simply was the god of the Dead, of the Underworld, the Subterranean Regions, Death, Darkness, The Earth, Fertility, Riches, Mortality, Afterlife, and Metals. Hades ruled death- Thanos was Death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person. He, like Hermes, was a psychopomp who guide the deceased to the afterlife. Psychopomps literally meaning the "guide of souls", are beings that guide, well, the dead to whatever afterlife in a given mythology. A different example would be Shinigamis in Japanese mythology or the more modern Grim Reaper that came out in the fifteenth century in medieval Europe. ... If anyone can tell I am a big dork for both mythology and history.
> 
> 2*: I always as a god of the ocean Posiden would avoid metal, 'cause its his brother Hades' domain. So from the bounty of the sea, he would decorate his lovers. And Zeus... Eh, maybe feathers of birds? For the skies? IDK. Just not metal and jewels cause they all belong to Hades.
> 
> ~Happy Reading,
> 
> Moon Witch '96


	6. Persephone III & Sally VI

_Persephone III & Sally IV_

_January 1995_

Persephone takes her first steps with a lot of confidence and a little on the late side for a toddler her age. Nearly two-years-old, but her legs, chubby, though a little wobbly and pale, stand firm through determination, grit, and secret practice she had done to strengthen her developing muscles. She softly pushes off the park bench where Maria Diaz had been sitting with her, slipping down with a shimmy away from the woman. She is smiling despite the fact that she doesn't quite have complete control over her swallowing reflex, little bits of drool dripping from her lips as she squeals in adoration and excitement at the sight of her mother, Sally, walking toward them, steaming cups of to-go coffee in her hands. For Persephone is  _walking_. Sally, mouth open, eyes a bright vibrant green is shining in awe as she makes her way towards her, toddling confidently if a little wobbly. Sally kneels, nearly fifteen feet away, putting aside the coffee cups and throwing her arms open as she laughs in delight, calling for her with a beaming,  _beautiful_ smile.

Part of her, the part that remembers Sophie the most, feels displeasure over the fact that she isn't quite steady yet, she isn't quite sure-footed as she rushes towards her mother. As Sophie…. As Sophie, she had  _glided, danced,_ the assurance and grace of a dancer had consumed her every movement. She remembers, remembers the assurance and loveliness she had possessed in the sway of her thin hips, of her long long legs. But now, her legs are untrained,  _new,_ and as Persephone, she is an unsteady creature like anything just born, even if she had made a point of doing leg exercises to help steady the muscles in her legs.

That, in itself, is a joy that is different than the confidence of grace and beauty. For each wobbly step is a new beginning, a new strength in herself. She feels sad that not everyone can remember this, this  _freedom_ that comes with understanding that you can walk. That they do not remember this as she will.  _But_ , she muses as she comes to a shaky stop next to her mother,  _she will remember and that will have to be enough._

She lands in Sally's waiting arms, who is cooing and kissing her temple and cheeks in rapid succession as she jumps up, laughing with her in her arms.

"You're gonna spoil Persi," and that was Maria, voice tempered with attitude and amusement in equal measure, she is practically lounging on the bench, and her words are spoken around the thick scarf around her neck.

Sally, uncaring, kisses Persephone again, on her nose. Then she rubs her cheek against her's and Persephone shrieks in delight at the love and care her mother shows her.

"Shut up. My baby's walking."

"Two feet."

_It had been fifteen feet, but semantics._

"You cannot bring me down, not over this," Sally coos, bouncing Persephone closer to her, "I was so scared when she kept crawling instead of trying to stand… And now look at this wonderful baby, walking!"

"Indeed," rumbles a voice, and Persephone stills as Poseidon comes into view.

She tries, very hard, not to preen at the pride she feels in his voice, because he may have given Sally the sperm donation to have her, but the being in front of her is not her father beyond biological. That much she knows. And part of her is naturally upset over the fact that she so ardently  _wants_ this god to love her, how much she  _craves_ it, as his daughter. It is unsettling, unwanted feeling. Because no creature should be innately loved without a reason. None, especially when the compulsion feels supernatural. Nothing would control how she felt…

Nothing.

And this being has only seen her twice, in her one year and few months of life. Sally had earned her love. Sally had been with her, worked tirelessly for her. Even Maria had earned her love, with her constant, caring presence.

"Poseidon," says Sally softly, uneasily, as she settles Persephone on her hip, "What a pleasant surprise."

"No," mummers, Maria, eyes narrowing as she stands, "No it isn't."

She walks over, bending to pick up her coffee. She takes as a measured swig as if instead of coffee she holds a something stronger, more volatile.

"So. You're him," her voice is flat and unimpressed.

Poseidon turns to Maria, and somehow, Persephone understands that the attention of a god is not a good thing. She shivers and holds out her hands.

"Mari Mari!" she gurgles, hands outstretched.

Maria, her godmother, eyes soften and she reaches out and takes her from Sally easily. Immediately, Persephone leans against her and stares at the god. A warning, or a show that this curled hair woman was _her's_ , and not one he should smite… Hopefully. She knows not what sort of logic dictates a god, but she hopes that even gods are swayed by the their children's life. If not… She is sure that Maria will go to Elysium, if nothing else. She is too kind a soul to end up anywhere else. Dying once, strangely enough, made her eager for life, but also all too understanding of its end. She didn't want Maria to die, nor Sally, but in the event of it she would mourn but also  _understand._ She has been touched by death, once, as far as she knows, and she is marked by it.

"Maria… Please don't," and that's her mother, Sally, anxiously, hands nervously moving about.

"Yes," muttered Poseidon, quietly, raising a brow. Persephone is infinitely glad that her eyesight has improved in the last year, to see the man from the distance, "I'm Poseidon. Sally has told me much about you."

Maria grunts, sipping at her coffee.

"Hmmm. What do you want, huh? You abandon Sally for a year. You come waltzing back into her life like nothing's happened? What do you  _want_?"

A expression, just for a second, passes over Poseidon's face, a darkness and anger that is so stark that Persephone can  _feel_ it. In the air a change in the air pressure that has even Maria, completely mortal, shifting in unease. In her body, the part of her that must have once been apart of Poseidon's godly essence, she feels it as well, like an echo in the back of her head. She trembles with it, how strange it is in comparison of being a completely normal person in her last life. But she is vividly reminded that Poseidon was known as the  _Earthshaker,_  and that his domain is the Ocean, that which is violent and unpredictable. She grits what little teeth she has at the whine that threatens to escape her, burying her face in Maria's tan throat. Automatically, Maria bounces her up and down in order to try and sooth her.

Persephone appreciate the gesture, if nothing else.

"A relationship… With my daughter. That's all. Anything else Sally was not willing. Now, if you'll excuse me… Ms. Diaz, I wish to talk to Sally alone."

Maria swallows, thickly. She is a passionate person, but somehow, she understands on some level the danger she is in.

"Sally?"

"Maira… It's between me and him, please?"

Maria swallows again.

"Okay. I get it," he voice is stiff, gruff, hiding her hurt over Sally not saying anything, in her defense, in the way that Sally has not looked away from Poseidon once. Persephone just nuzzles her throat, trying to comfort, trying to urge the woman  _away_.

"I'm taking her to see the penguins than, like we said we would," she says sharply, "You guys talk."

"Maria… Thank you."

"Whatever."

It isn't until Poseidon is out of sight that Persephone relaxes.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

"That woman is too nosey in our affairs," says Poseidon, irate.

Sally stares at her ex-lover, unsure of what to say to him. She thinks he wants him to reassure him, that Maria isn't privy to her decisions concerning Persephone… But Maria  _is,_ her friend, her confidant and rock in the face of all the unrest that Poseidon had brought to her life. And Sally herself wishes to defend Maria, to push back against his ill-temper. But she does not wish for Poseidon to get more irritated at her. The wrath of a god… Any god, is not one to take lightly and one she doesn't wish for her friend. She has read so many stories, so many of the gods' unkindness. She has read of the  _Odyssey,_ seen his wrath against someone who slighted his child in his eyes. He hunted Odysseus for over a decade for disfiguring his son… And yes, the written word is more likely exaggerated, but there is some truth in it.

"She's my friend," she says instead, without heat, without a fight, looking after her retreating back. Persephone is looking over her shoulder, green eyes, the same shade as Poseidon's eyes, and she watches them both until they disappear around a corner, heading towards the Zoo, "She's concerned. I may not have explained it the best way to her. I was hurt. Angry and pregnant."

"All things that could have changed if you had said yes."

She resists the urge to laugh at Poseidon, so strong, ruler of the Ocean, thousands of upon thousands of years old,  _Earthshaker_ , yet sometimes he sounded so much like a petulant child. She doesn't, despite the fact that she is somewhat sure he would not hurt her. For he is still a god, and despite that, he is hurt, she thinks even embarrassed over her rejection. Perhaps with time, he would stop to point out the misery she caused them both, however rightly she had done… But not yet, not so soon.

"Don't start that. As irritated as Maria was, her question is good. What do you want at the moment?" her tone is much kinder then what Maria had.

Poseidon looks at her, that gentle look that made something  _ache,_ settled warm and heady in her chest. That still makes heat pool and her toes curl in faint remembrance.

"Her first steps," his voice is wonderfilled, for their daughter, but then it darkens into something harder," She was late to achieve them… Especially for a demigod."

Sally hums.

"She's a cautious child. She has to test everything before she tries something. She took forever to start talking, but when she did she hardly slurred at all."

Poseidon looks down at his hands.

"I… She looks at me as if with caution."

The pain in his voice is evident, the conflict is even more so. Sally sighs.

"She is young, and she's seen you only once in her life, Poseidon. Your aura may be too much for her to be seen so sparingly."

Poseidon sighs, and with it Sally vaguely gets a faint whiff of the ocean, fells the ocean breeze across her skin, warm and removing the cold in the air for just a moment. She reaches over, hand over his arm. He leans into the touch. She tries to ignore the slight thrill she gets from that, how easily flustered she is by him, even after her resolve.

"Spend time with her, Poseidon."

"I wonder if that is wise. She already attracts attention with the name you have graced her with. My niece is a gentle soul and has no doubt looked in at the newest babe that a mortal has graced with her name. She will likely bless the child if she does something she likes," he muses.

Sally smiles, pleased at her choice. It had been a risk, to name her daughter after a god, but one that she felt compelled to take.

"And your sister? Is she aware of the name?"

"She will be glad that her daughter's memory is furthered in the mortal world. You choice of name was as wise as you could be, in grabbing the attention of the correct gods… "

Sally nods.

"I had hoped. I didn't know if you wanted to involved with her life. I thought maybe another god would bless her if I gave them tribute. It may have been the level of pain I was in."

Green eyes flash.

"You bore the burden well, my queenly Sally."

Her lips twitch, both up and down. He still used the possessive with her… She blinked.

"You were watching me when I was giving birth?"

Poseidon gave a small shrug.

"In some sense, but not completely. My Pearl," the moniker, endearment, as possessive as his adjective for her, slipped past his lips as easy as breathing, something she doubts her former lover even thought about, "Is of my essence. She was a part of me,  _mine,_ Sally Jackson and when she came to the world through you I felt both struggle and pain, love and creation and life of the moment. You bore it well."

His eyes are ancient. In that moment in a way that Sally had never registered before, how  _other_ he was. He felt things at a different frequency, was removed from humanity in a way she could never understand. And by extension, so would Persephone.

Despite the implications, she found herself smiling at his description of their daughter coming into the world.

"Come with me, let's go see the penguins with her," she says, unable to say anything else.

"Your friend tries my temper."

Worry is there, but at the moment, Sally is light and reassured. His promise on the beach seems to have been fulfilled. He loves his daughter.

"Yes. But both I and Kore  _love_ Maria. So please, do not hurt her."

"If only for my Pearl and you, dear Sally. Let us go to my creations, peguins… Funny story that-"

They walk. Not arm and arm as had been so normal before. But close, her shoulder in line to his arm. It's intimate stance, not as intimate as before but that was okay by Sally. Poseidon informs her how much penguins, and any non-flying bird, but especially penguins had been made by him to spite his youngest brother, who lorded over the creation of the flying creatures. It has her smiling, nearly giggling.

And when Poseidon sees Persephone, he reaches for her, holds her, gently, lovingly.

Against his chest, whispering into her ear, no doubt the same story he had told her on the way over. Maria, next to her, is no longer looking at the penguins. But rather at him, and their daughter, a few feet away. Poseidon is smiling, beaming, point with large fingers with Persephone in his arms, moving her up and down in sheer delight.

"I don't understand how you aren't mad at him," Maria says, softly. Her voice, so irritated before, is calmer, her eyes serious as she stares at the god holding their daughter.

Sally sighs.

"I hurt him, Maria. I hurt him when I said no. Not just the marrying him part, but in being able to take care of Kore with child support."

Lips twitch down.

"So you hurt his ego? Is that enough for him to be AWOL for a year?"

"No. I hurt him because we loved each other and I couldn't be a kept person. It was all or nothing with him and I chose nothing. He allowed me the choice but it hurt him… And his job keeps him at sea a lot. He can't see Kore as often as he wants, Maria."

Maria sighs.

"I guess I'll never understand. It's none of my business…. But I hate seeing you like this pretty girl. It hurts you-"

Sally smiles.

"I made my choice, Maria," she is both concerned and relieved that Poseidon can hear this conversation.

He is acting oblivious, but she thinks that his shoulders, tense as they were before, loosen.

"Are you happy with that choice?"

Sally, still smiling, watches as her former lover kisses their daughter on her head, pressing his lips gently while he whisperd something against her skin. Their baby shifts, little hands reaching, to tug gently at his beard in response, giggling as Posiden responded in kind by throwing a raspberry into her stomach. They both laugh, high and loud, a symphony of Persephone's bell-like shriek and Posiden's deep rumble of a laugh.

"Yes. I think I am."


End file.
